However, churches and Christians themselves are called to recognise and to confess their failings in ignoring and even justifying violence against women: in church environments and in the wider society. There is an urgent need for all denominations and confessional traditions to study and analyse their own customs and practices. This is a serious theological task, because there is widespread evidence that the Bible, and other forms of Christian teaching, are often misused to give inappropriate and even dangerous instruction or counsel.

We welcome the letter, signed by the Presidents of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE), Metropolitan Jérémie and Miloslav Cardinal Vlk, to alert their member churches and Bishops´ Conferences to the increasing incidence of gender violence and abuse – even in Christian contexts. The Presidents call upon the churches of Europe to declare that violence against women is a sin. (The text of this letter is available from the CEC and CCEE Offices.)

What constitutes violence against women?

Violence against women can be physical, psychological, sexual, spiritual, emotional, structural.

Violence can leave visible marks and injuries; but it can be experienced also in situations where there are no physical wounds.

Violence can be an incident which happens once, yet the damaging consequences (obvious or hidden) are lifelong.

But it can also be a systematic and continuing pattern of abusive behaviour, by which institutions or individual men seek to control, limit and humiliate women.

Violence against women, in all its forms, is a major violation of human rights, present in every culture and society in the world.

Domestic Violence

Statistics confirm that the most dangerous place for thousands of women is their own home:

Domestic violence is mostly committed by men against their wives or partners, and the abuse can continue, even when women try to escape through separation or divorce. Elderly family members and siblings can also suffer.

Some myths about domestic violence

Many people think that domestic violence only occurs in poor or deprived families.

But in reality abusive men come from all walks of life – including welleducated, professional, apparently respectable members of church and society.

Many people think that drinking alcohol causes abusive behaviour.

But in reality alcohol can be one factor in abusive behaviour. Some men only abuse their partners when they have been drinking, some only do it when they are sober, and some do it drunk or sober. Drinking can provide an easy excuse, but is more of a trigger than a root cause of the choice to act violently.

Many people think that violence occurs as a momentary loss of control.

But in reality most domestic violence is a deliberate, strategic pattern of behaviour, which characterises the relationship and is designed to dominate, humiliate and control the victim. Once a man has started to abuse his partner, it is likely to happen again, and to get worse.

Many people think that women ’ask for it’: that their actions, appearance, attitudes provoke or deserve a violent response.

But in reality the choice to act violently is not causally or logically related to the behaviour of the victim. No one deserves to be abused, and there is always an alternative way to respond.

A World Bank analysis of research conducted in 35 countries, indicates that between 25% and 50% of all women suffer significant physical, sexual or psychological abuse at the hands of their partner.

Police in different countries recognise that only a very small percentage of domestic violence incidents are ever reported. Abusive behaviour by a partner is still seen as a private matter, ’behind closed doors’, rather than as criminal assault.

Incest and Child Sexual Abuse

No statistic can convey the devastation and betrayal suffered by unnumbered children who are sexually abused by their father, or another family member.

Paedophiles – adults who are sexually attracted only to children – are clearly dangerous, and children must be protected from exploitation and abuse, which often occurs in organised sex tourism, or through the Internet, as well as when individual children are preyed upon, kidnapped, sexually assaulted and even murdered by paedophiles.

However, it is not paedophiles who present the most prevalent danger to children, but adult men who use their power and authority to engage in sexual encounters with family

members or other children in their care.

To be a victim of incest – or other forms of child sexual abuse – marks your life forever. Too often, the consequences of these wounds are neither recognised nor acknowledged. They are carried as a shameful, unspeakable secret.

Victims of child sexual abuse struggle – consciously or subconsciously – to create strategies for survival. These may appear, or be regarded, as dysfunctional behaviour, but are in fact logical responses to the inner reality.

As part of a healing journey, some victims struggle along the hard path to become adult survivors; but still they grieve for the loss of the persons they might have been, if it had not been for their devastating childhood experience.

Why do so many men in our communities choose to exploit the bodies, the trust, the love of their own children?

Sexual Harassment

The harmless flirtation, the fun, and the pleasure of relating to one another as women and men are enjoyable aspects of life – when they are appreciated, wanted and also mutual. Finding good and appropriate ways of ex-

pressing the warmth we feel for others, without any sense of dominance or coercion, is one of the challenges faced by all human communities, including that of the Church.

But behaviour with a sexual connotation, if unsolicited and unwanted, and especially if repetitive, can be regarded as a form of sexual harassment.

Examples include:

Sexual harassment also includes discrimination on the basis of gender, causing stress or hu-miliation to the victim. This may happen in situations where dominance and abuse of power result in a lack of respect or mistreatment of people as sexual objects, which demeans and destroys the dignity of the one who is so treated.

All these forms of harassment are widespread in the experience of women in diverse social contexts: public places, educational institutions, workplaces, leisure and sports facilities – and in the churches.

Rape and Sexual Violence

Rape is an extreme form of gender violence, when penile genital penetration is carried out without the consent of the victim. There are other severe and horrible forms of sexual assault. These are all essentially expressions of the desire to exercise power, control and dominance over the victim. They are not the outcomes of sexual need or pleasure.

British research indicates:

Rape has been used, and continues to be used systematically as a strategic weapon in situations of war and armed conflict.

In countries where the level of violence is high, murder, abduction and torture of women are everyday occurrences. Those active in trade unions, political movements, or as intellectuals are particular targets. According to an Amnesty International Report, the rape of imprisoned women is employed in many countries as an instrument of torture.

Women who are displaced, or refugees, are especially vulnerable to rape. They are often made to submit to sexual acts in order to gain access to food or facilities.

All forms of rape and sexual assault are serious crimes, yet the great majority of perpetrators are never convicted or punished by due legal process for their actions. ’Men get away with it’.

Representations of women in the media

Girls and women in European societies are surrounded by words and pictures, stories and images which present unrealistic and degrading portrayals of women and their everyday lives. Rigid conventions and myths about the nature, appearance and appropriate behaviour of women, are used to sell objects, and to control or limit the freedom of women to be fully and uniquely human. They lock us all – both women and men – into stereotypes that are constricting, damaging and ultimately death-dealing. Sexual domination and violence is increasingly por-trayed – in films, videos, magazines and books – as acceptable mass entertainment; the violent humiliation and abuse of women is eroticised as a source of excitement and pleasure.

Pornography is obscene, not because it portrays human bodies and sexual acts, but because it distorts those acts by dehumanising them. The root word porno means female captive. It is a multi-million dollar industry, which profits from the connection between sex and the suffering and death of women and children.

Recently, huge quantities of pornographic videos and magazines, produced in the West, have been dumped in central and eastern Europe. This material is partly filing the vacuum created by the lack of adequate information for sexual and family counselling. It helps create the fantasy that abusive sexuality is a desirable aspect of ’western freedom’.

Trafficking in Women

A modern form of slavery is flourishing in Europe: thousands of women from central and eastern Europe (and also from Asia) are bought, and brought to countries in western Europe to satisfy the demands of an increasingly lucrative sex industry. Trafficking of women into forced prostitution is a virulent form of organised crime. Victims are subjected to false promises, intimidation and acts of brutality. They are deprived of their basic human rights.

According to the International Organisation of Migration, in 1995 about 500,000 women were trafficked illegally in to the countries of the European Union. Because of the uncertain economic situation in central and eastern European countries, this alarming trend continues.

The traffickers have many ways of proceeding. Some of their methods are brutal – rape, making women dependent on drugs, beatings, holding to ransom with pornographic photographs. Others are more subtle – like making misleading promises, isolating women, or using psychological abuse. Escape from a gang of traffickers is almost impossible.

Violence Against Women and the Churches

During recent years, more and more women have, with courage and fortitude, started to break the silence of violence. They are coming out of the shadows of shame and despair, and telling their stories of suffering and survival. In spite of all the humiliation, they begin to recognise their right to a life free from fear and oppression; a life of honesty and dignity.

Many people, inside and outside our churches, hope that Christian communities are faithful to their pastoral and prophetic calling in the midst of these hard realities. There is a clear need for stories to be heard, and for the churches to develop appropriate ways to respond with compassion and justice.

Some survivors of abuse have experienced their local church as a safe and supportive place.

However, for too many women, the Church has failed to be a refuge in their distress. Indeed, there are those whose experience of violence or abuse has occurred in a church environment.

Stories from across Europe reveal that significant numbers of men in positions of spiritual and pastoral authority, exploit the trust and confidence of their church members by engaging in inappropriate sexualised behaviour. This can happen in the context of counselling, confession, working relationships, youth work, and so on.

The common factors, which distinguish such behaviour from responsibly loving and caring encounters or relationships, are

consent.

The consequences of betraying the integrity of spiritual and pastoral responsibility are devastating to all parties, including the whole community, which suffers confusion, division, demoralisation.

Historically the churches have largely failed to recognise and respond to the reality of violence and abuse against women in their own environments. This failure is evident in the educational and spiritual training which prepares both clergy and laity for the fulfilment of their vocations.

The churches’ silence and unpreparedness leaves victims feeling unsupported, isolated and even despised and rejected by their Christian community.

Furthermore, too many women, having dared to seek help from the Church, have discovered that the priority is to protect the individual perpetrator and the reputation of the institution, rather than to accompany the victim in her pain and to share, in solidarity, the consequences for her life.

In the light of what we now know, it is encouraging that many church leaders – at international, regional and local levels – have spoken out. They have declared that violence against women in all its forms is indefensible and unacceptable. Using their authority, they are alerting European churches to the need for resolute action.

There are many examples of faithful, courageous and practical responses by Christians in different European contexts:

• The Lutheran Church of Norway has drawn up a policy to deal effectively with allegations of sexual abuse within the church.

These, and other initiatives, affirm that Christians have an important and distinctive con-tribution to make towards overcoming gender violence in church and society.

• Encouraging local clergy and laity to be aware of the different manifestations of such abuse in their own contexts.

The Ballycastle Declaration

In 1994, a consultation on violence against women in Europe, held at Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, was organised by CEC and the WCC. Those present issued a call to the churches of Europe to be real sources of empowerment:

In 1999, there are signs of hope, that Christians are willing to share in a process of transformation, so that we can renew right relations between children, women, men and God, for the sake of our churches and wider communities. Let us pray for God’s blessing, as we seek to fulfil the call of the Ballycastle Declaration, which concludes:

	’Violence against women prevents the Church from being a true community of women and men. We are challenged, as women and men, to take appropriate responsibility. Let us break the silence of violence against women. In our prayer, in our preaching, in our practice. Let us proclaim the story of women coming out of the shadows.’
Ill. Kristina Wessel

Further information and advice about the churches’ response to violence and abuse against women from: